Syrian MoD video shows Syrian forces backed by Russian choppers, shelling on the western outskirts of Suknah, destroyed vehicles including a burned out tank and BMP and footage overlooking the first buildings of Sukhna in eastern Homs, Syria.

The Lebanese army will not coordinate with the Syrian Army to fight against IS in the Lebanese-Syrian border zone, a military source told Reuters today, rejecting a local media report of direct military cooperation between the two.

IS claims twenty government forces were killed in a SVBIED attack west of Sukhnah when "Abu-Bara al-Qalamuni" detonated his explosive vehicle in front of a headquarters in which Syrian Army personnel were fortified.

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said the group would fight in the coming assault on an Islamic State pocket on the country's border with Syria, which he said would begin within a few days.